Two Chinese Uyghur men were sentenced to death on Thursday for carrying out the 2015 attack on the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, killing 20 people, a long-awaited ruling in Thailand’s deadliest bombing case.
The Bangkok South Criminal Court convicted Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammed of premeditated and attempted murder for their role in planting a bomb at the popular shrine at the Ratchaprasong intersection in August 2015.
The deadly blast tore apart the site where worshippers and tourists had gathered, injuring more than 120 people and leaving the shrine littered with motorbike fragments and singed debris.
Five tourists from mainland China and two from Hong Kong were among the dead when explosives — apparently left in a backpack — detonated.
“The defendants committed a single act that violated multiple laws. The court therefore imposed the harshest penalty available under the law, the death sentence,” a member of the four-judge panel said on Thursday as the lengthy ruling was read out.
The defendants — both Chinese nationals who arrived in court in prison garb — were acquitted of charges stemming from a separate bombing at a pier in the Charoen Nakhon area.
Following the verdict, Mieraili said: “RIP Thailand’s justice system. I don’t accept any of this. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Choochat Kanpai, the defendants’ lawyer, told reporters the defendants “will appeal the ruling because there are many aspects of the case that the court has not fully considered, including the treatment of the defendants during the proceedings”.
Beijing, commenting on the outcome of the trial, expressed its support for Thailand.
“The attackers were totally inhumane and extremely heinous. China supports Thailand in conducting the trial in accordance with the law and severely punishing the murderers,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news briefing on Thursday.
Delays and drugs
The decade-long trial over the horrific attack was beset by delays due to coronavirus disruptions and problems securing translators.
The blast came weeks after Thailand’s then-ruling junta forcibly repatriated 109 Uyghurs to China, where rights groups say the Muslim minority face cultural and religious repression.
The timing prompted speculation that the attack was part of a revenge plot against a country that had been a key transit hub for Uyghurs as Thailand’s then-military leaders grew closer to Beijing. (Story continues below)
Shortly after the bombing, police named 17 suspects, but only Mieraili and Mohammed were initially apprehended.
Thai authorities were criticised for a murky investigation that appeared to wind down shortly after the arrest of the two men.
They went on trial in 2016, accused of planting the explosives.
But the proceedings — which have involved hundreds of witness testimonies — have been delayed multiple times, once because the translator for the accused was hit with drugs charges.
Thai woman acquitted
In 2017 a Thai woman called Wanna Suansan was detained on arrival in Bangkok on a warrant linked to the shrine blast — making her the third named suspect arrested.
She was charged with attempted murder, associated murder and possession of bombs and weapons, but was acquitted in 2024.
Uyghurs, a Turkic minority, hail from China’s westernmost province, Xinjiang.
Beijing is accused of widespread human rights abuses in the region, including the incarceration of around one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. It denies the allegations.
Thailand deported 40 more Uyghurs to China in February 2025 despite warnings from human rights groups that they would face persecution on their return, drawing swift condemnation from the United Nations.
The Erawan Shrine remains a popular draw for Chinese tourists to the kingdom’s capital, but none that AFP spoke to ahead of the verdict said they knew about the case.
A Chinese man who said he came to the shrine “every year” declined to answer when asked about the 2015 bombing.
“It’s nice to come here to pray,” he said before walking away.
